What is the Bible?
We believe that God wrote a book and that this book is the Bible.
Why did God write a book?
He intended it to be a revelation from Himself to all human persons.
What was the content of this revelation?
In the Bible, God unveils a promise of salvation to all people.
How is it that God wrote the Bible when it has all the appearance of being authored by human persons whose names we know from history?
It is true that there are about forty different authors represented in the Bible. The Bible, however, is both divine and human just as the person of Jesus Christ was both divine and human. Schaff writes:
The Bible, like the person and work of our Savior, is theanthropic in its character and aim. The eternal personal Word of God “was made flesh,” and the whole fullness of the Godhead and of sinless manhood were united in one person forever. So the spoken word of God may be said to have become flesh in the Bible. It is therefore all divine, and yet all human, from beginning to end. Through the veil of the letter we behold the glory of the eternal truth of God. The divine and human in the Bible sustain a similar relation to each other, as in the person of Christ: they are unmixed, yet inseparably united, and constitute but one life, which kindles life in the heart of the believer. source
Does this mean that the human authors of Scripture were under some kind of divine influence as they wrote?
Yes, it does. Christians have used the term "inspiration" to identify this divine influence on the human authors.
What does “inspiration” mean?
We use the term “inspiration” to refer to the fact that God guided the men who wrote the Bible in such a way that what they wrote was free from all error.
Inspiration is often understood in our day to be something that animates us or motivates us to do or create something. Is this how the word is used in theology as well?
No, it is not. Christians do not mean by inspiration that God wrote Scripture to inspire something in us. Rather, the term is intended to say that Scripture flows from God Himself. He is the source of it. Paul will say in 2Tim 3:16 that Scripture is God's breath.
Is the Bible entirely free of all error then?
It is indeed. We use the term "infallible" to describe the Bible. By this term, we affirm that it is not even possible for the Bible to err.
How can I be sure that there is no error in the Bible?
We know there is no error in the Bible because we know that God cannot lie, and the entire Bible is inspired by God.
Why did God give us the Bible?
God gave it to us to teach us things that we could never have learned on our own.
Are there things we can learn about God apart from reading Scripture?
There certainly are many such things. We call this natural theology because we can discover it using our own minds apart from any kind of supernatural revelation. There are, however, many things about God that we cannot possibly learn using our own minds. To learn these things, God must teach them to us.
What are these things that God wanted us to know?
The key lessons that God wanted to teach us are:
Who God is and who we are;
Why there is so much misery in the world;
What we can do to be rescued from this misery and live a life of hope and joy.
What does the reader first notice when he begins to read the Bible?
First, he will notice that the entire Bible is divided up into two sections called the old and new testaments. Then, there are sixty-six different books, each with its own author and coming from a different period in biblical history.
Why is the Bible divided up into Old and New Testaments?
This reflects the fact that we believe that the coming of Jesus to earth is the most important event in world history. This is why we have this division in our Bibles. The Old Testament refers to things that happened before Jesus came to earth; the New Testament refers to things that happened after Jesus came to earth.
How should I read the Bible?
First, you should pray that the divine Author of Scripture would also enable you to understand it.
Second, you should try hard to read it with understanding.
Third, you should never stop short of just reading Scripture, but you should go on to make application of what you read to your own life.
How can I effectively apply Scripture to my life?
You can ask yourself three questions, and these questions pertain to faith, love, and hope (1Cor 13:13).
Faith - what truth is this passage teaching me to believe?
Love - what commands is this passage teaching me to obey (John 14:15)?
Hope - what promises are in this passage which hold out future blessings for me?
What part of the Bible should I read first?
Perhaps it would be good to begin with the gospel of John. After this, you could start reading the book of Genesis. The most important thing, however, in all your reading is that you pray earnestly that God would be your teacher and would show you the truth He wants you to see in His Word. This is the prayer of all God’s people.